Surf’s Up

Surf’s Up is the 17th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 30, 1971, on Brother/Reprise/Warner Bros. It received largely favorable reviews and reached number 29 on the U.S. record charts, becoming their highest-charting LP of new music in the U.S. since 1967. In the UK, Surf’s Up peaked at number 15, continuing a string of top-40 records that began in 1965.

The album’s title and cover artwork (a painting based on the early 20th-century sculpture “End of the Trail”) are a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware nod to the band’s early surfing image. Originally titled Landlocked, the album took its name from the closing track “Surf’s Up”, a song originally intended for the group’s unfinished album Smile. Most of Surf’s Up was recorded from January to July 1971. In contrast to the previous LP Sunflower, Brian Wilson was not especially active in the production, which resulted in thinner vocal arrangements.